Roseland 10 Veor 34
by Nick Sylvester
Roseland welcomed table topping Veor to Philleigh for a fixture that was always going to be a tough assignment for the home team.
In testing conditions, with a north-easterly wind howling down the pitch, Roseland played against the elements for the first half. With this in mind it was inevitable that Veor would gain a territorial advantage which proved to be the case for much of the first half.
Although Roseland still had attacking opportunities, the hard yards gained were easily negated by kicks downfield following any breakdown in play. Meanwhile, the two sides remained evenly matched at scrumtime with Veor perhaps having the edge in the lineout. As for first half scores, Veor went in front after 15 minutes from a long range penalty from halfway to be followed by a unconverted try on 25 minutes. Towards the end of the half, Veor’s left wing went over in the corner which, together with a successful touchline conversion, meant a 0-15 scoreline at the interval. Clearly the combined influence of the wind and slope meant that a contest was still very much on.
Although Veor made a bright start to the second period, it was Roseland who scored after 50 minutes as Ant Thomas threw a short lineout ball to Nathan Chapman who smartly returned it for the skipper to touchdown. Although unconverted, there was plenty of reason for Roseland to feel optimistic with over half an hour to play. Unfortunately, the turning point soon followed as a high tackle on the speedy Veor right wing led to a penalty try together with a Roseland yellow card. Then, 5 minutes or so later, the visitors took advantage of their extra man by scoring a further 7 pointer to stretch their advantage to 5-29 and secure a try bonus point.
With numbers restored to 15 a side, Roseland bounced back and after a series of five-metre attacking scrums, Rhys Daniels touched down for a deserved pushover try with 15 minutes left to play. However, a further Roseland yellow card was to follow and a fifth Veor try to complete the scoring making it 10-34 when the final whistle was blown.
As was the case against Newquay last week, Roseland could have run Veor so much closer in scoreline terms following another very spirited performance that should provide vital encouragement for the final league encounter of 2018 – away at Bodmin who themselves have had unexpectedly mixed fortunes so far this season.